Threenager

Let's see, the last time I wrote about Charlie, he was ten months old.  Now he's three years old.  He walks, runs, talks, and know his way around touchscreen products more than I'd like.  He loves trains, reading,  ice cream, and "doing school" as he calls our sporadic attempts at K3 homeschooling.  

This kid is in the throws of being a threenager.  He's calm, sweet, and thoughtful one minute and tantrum-throwing, devious, and generally unreasonable the next. Terrible twos?  Never had 'em.  When Charlie turned three last October - watch out!

Recently, Charlie discovered what it means to be the older brother; protecting and sticking up for his little sister but quick to take her toy or poke at her (physically or mentally).  When he is sweet with Esme - which is half of the time - it is so precious: teaching her to play with toys, "reading" to her, cuddling, and explaining how awesome Little Bear is.

What's awesome - and sometimes not so awesome - is that Charlie is clever.  We started more intentional efforts of teaching him because he is showing a knack for learning and gets bored just playing all day.  And he gets in more sticky situations if he doesn't get what we call "school" everyday at our house.  He's too young for public preschool (because he is not high risk), and we make too little to afford any private school that accept his age.  We've created educational goals, invested in a membership at our local Discovery Center (a science center for kids), constructed mini-unit studies for him, started to let him do educational apps (Preschool Monkey Lunchbox, Owl and Pals Preschool Lessons), and invested in short-term YMCA programs.    

Every age has been a bit of a challenge and a fantastic opportunity for me as a SAHM to share the milestones and educational leaps Charlie maneuvers. Sometimes the challenges have me wanting to go back to teaching the middle to high school age, but many times I feel is grateful to have the positive experiences witnessing his growth.  What an honor to be given this child to rear.